This invention relates to footwear and more particularly to a boot which securely holds the wearer's foot against the sole and supports the ankle against lateral movement while allowing substantially unhindered forward and rearward flexure of the lower leg.
It is important that the feet of skiers be held in such a way that lateral movement of their ankles is severely restricted while forward and rearward flexure is permitted. For example, proper edge control of skiers requires that the ski boot hold the skier's ankles rigid in the lateral direction. On the other hand, it is necessary for a skier to be able to flex his ankle forwardly and rearwardly so that he can appropriately shift his weight for turning and properly keep his body level when travelling over moguls or other uneven surfaces.
To provide the desired lateral support for the wearer's ankle, most ski boots are provided with a stiffened upper portion which extends above the wearer's ankle and which may be tightened about the wearer's lower leg. The upper portion is pivotally connected to the lower portion of the boot adjacent the wearer's ankle bone and thereby permits forward and rearward flexure of the lower leg with respect to the foot but prevents or severely restricts lateral movement of the lower leg.
Usually the upper and lower portions of known ski boots are pivotally interconnected by means of a rivet or a hinge. Such an attachment means is unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. First, the cost of the rivet or hinge and the cost of attachment to the upper and lower portions of a boot are significant elements of the overall cost of the finished boot. Secondly, the rivet or hinge is fixed in position and cannot move forwardly or rearwardly as the lower leg flexes. To be truly effective, the rivet or hinge should do so with like movement of the pivotal axis of the wearer's ankle as the lower leg flexes. The structure of a rivet or hinge capable of moving with the axis of an ankle is too complicated and expensive of manufacture for adoption by most boot manufacturers.
It is an object of this invention to provide a boot having an upper portion which provides lateral support for a wearer's ankle and which is free to pivot forwardly and rearwardly but is not connected to the lower portion of the boot by a rivet or hinge.
Another object of this invention is to provide a boot having an upper portion in the form of an outer upper disposed about and integral with an inner upper. Both inner and outer uppers are formed of stiff material which permits pivotal movement of the outer upper relative to the inner upper at the point at which the two uppers are interconnected but which resists relative movement at other points.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a boot having means for selectively increasing or decreasing the size of the interior space for accommodation of feet of different sizes.
These and other objects are accomplished by a boot comprising a sole; a vamp; a heel portion which together with the sole and vamp define a space for accommodation of a wearer's foot; a stiff inner upper connected to the vamp and heel portion and covering the lower areas of the wearer's calf and shin; and an outer upper disposed about said inner upper and connected thereto at the rear but unconnected thereto at the front and sides such that the outer upper is free to move in the forward and rearward direction relative to the inner upper but is substantially immovable relative to the inner upper in the lateral direction.